MYSTERY OF THE SICKLE CLAW DINOSAUR Narrator (Davina) Hello boys and girls. My name is Davina, and I'm a paleontologist. Do you know what a paleontologist does? (Solicit answers). That s right!! I study dinosaurs and other animals that lived a long, long time ago. Let me tell you a story about some amazing animals that lived many millions of years ago, not far from where you are sitting right now. Flagstaff didn t look anything like it does now. In fact, Flagstaff didn't even exist. What does the area around Flagstaff look like today? 93 million years ago the land where Flagstaff is now was right beside a big inland sea. (You can explain sea). Animals that are now extinct ruled the land, the air and the water. Do you know what it means to be extinct? Come with me on an imaginary journey 93 million years into the past to a time long before any human beings (before boys & girls) were alive. Boys & girls, look up in the sky! Hello up there!! Who are You? Peter Pteranodon I am Pteranodon, flying reptile. (Optional defining the word reptile see notes at end of play). My friends call me Pete. I m fishing right now. I m very hungry. (Flies around searching for fish). If I see a fish, I ll dive down into the sea and snag it with my sharp beak, but I don t see any fish right now. All I see is a very strange looking dinosaur. Hello!
Yikes! Who are you? Peter Pteranodon I m, Flying Reptile. (Bragging). Hello Pete. I m a Therizinosaur, Sickle-Claw Reptile. See my long claws? You can call me Clawd. Hello, Clawd. Hey, Pete, I see that you can fly. ( is flying about, showing off) I didn t know reptiles could fly. Are you really a reptile? Tell me about yourself. (Very proud sounding) My nest rests on that cliff, not far from where you re standing right now. From there I can just spread my wings (twenty feet across, by the way!), drop into the sky, and soar on the updrafts high over the sea. I can fly for miles and miles, and when I see a fish in the water (I have super keen eyesight, you know), I can dive down and snatch it out of the water with my long sharp beak. I m one amazing predator! Good looking, too. Have you noticed the beautiful crest on my head? Yes, of course, Pete. (Climbing very close to the edge of the cliff). Clawd, you don t look like you can fly. What are you doing way up
on that cliff? Like you, I m looking for dinner. Although I have long claws, I m actually a plant eater. I can use these claws to pull tree branches down to my mouth so I can eat the leaves and fruits. Why are you covered with all those funny furry things? Ichthyornis appears Oh, those are my feathers. See that bird flying near you? That s Ichthyornis (ikthēˈôrnis) or fish bird. He has feathers to help him fly. I have feathers but I can t fly and I don t feel safe up here. I never thought much about the ichthyornis before. (Pete flys close to bird. Bird flys around Pete).You are a pest! You steal my fish and (Shift attention) Hey Clawd,! Be careful you re too close to the edge of that cliff! You re standing on an overhang! The water and rocks are right under you and... Look out! Suddenly there is a loud boom and the edge of the cliff falls. Therizinosaur falls to the shore below. Oh no! Clawd Therizinosoaur fell off the cliff! Poor Clawd. He's floating out to sea. Good-bye Clawd..But I'm still very hungry. No fish today. Wow! Look at that enormous dude swimming in the
water. I m hungry, but he s waaaaay too big to eat! He must be 40 feet long. I think I ll just glide down and say hello. (Pete glides down out of sight and plesiosaur appears. Pete pops back up calling to plesiosaur) Hello down there! You in the water! Who are you? Speedy Plesiosaur I m a plesiosaur. You can call me Speedy. I m a marine reptile. That means I live in the water. I don t want to sound like I m bragging, but I can swim as fast as 30MPH. Nothing gets away from me when I'm hungry! And I m always hungry. Come on into the water and swim with me. (Ask audience if they think Pete should swim with plesiosaur). : No thank you. I'm just fine right up here, flying. Speedy Plesiosaur Well, I like to swim and dive all day. But because I'm a reptile, I have lungs and I swim to the surface to breathe air. Watch this! I can hold my breath for a long time. Watch me while I dive for fish and squid. (Speedy plesiosaur dives and sees Archelon) Who are you? Pete disappears and Archelon appears Archelon (ARE-kell-on) (s-p-e-a-k s-l-o-w-l-y) I'm a sea turtle. My name is Archelon. I am a reptile, like you. I love to eat jelly-fish. Yumm, yumm! Speedy Plesiosaur What is that on your back?
Archelon ((s-p-e-a-k s-l-o-w-l-y) Oh, that is my baby, Archie. He was born from an egg on the ocean floor. Speedy Piesiosaur Ho, ho!! Hello Archie, pleased to meet you. Whoops! I m running out of air. My dive time is up and I d better head back to the surface. (Speedy swims to surface and takes a loud breath. He spots Clawd Therizinosaur floating in the water). Look at that thing floating in the water. It s huge. Pete, where are you? Pete,! Over here. Still looking for fish. Speedy Piesiosaur Do you see that huge thing floating in the water? What is that? That is poor old. He was a dinosaur that lived on the land. He had long claws, a small head, flat teeth and a huge belly. He was really weird and he ate plants! Yuck! Anyway, he climbed up this cliff to get something to eat. The cliff crumpled and he fell onto the rocks below. I watched a big trying to grab a bite of him for lunch. I think broke a tooth when he tried to bite that Therizinosaur. Then Clawd floated out to sea. Speedy Piesiosaur You mean that thing floating in the water is a dinosaur? Oh
Yummy! I ve never eaten dinosaur. Bye Pete. ( Dives out of site) appears and baby in egg Hey, you, down there!! Did you break a tooth trying to eat that Therizinosaur for lunch? Yes, I did. It doesn t matter. A new tooth will just grow in to replace it. And besides, I ve got about 50 teeth in my mouth, so now I ve just got 49. That s still enough to eat you. What are you doing sitting by that pile of rocks? These aren t rocks. They are my eggs. (Excited) Oh, look! One is hatching! (Holds up baby and Egg make baby come out) Baby Gorp, gorp! Oh isn t my baby precious? Hey look there just over the hill! I see a dinosaur with three horns on her face. Oh no! That would be Triceratops. She and I do not get along. She is sooooooo stuck-up! I wish she would fall into a mud puddle!
Triceratops I heard that, you old tea kettle. My horns aren t only for show, you know. I am not just another pretty dinosaur. You may have a mouth full of sharp teeth, but I m built like a tank I can flatten you. Come on let s see who s toughest. ( & Triceratops begin to fight). Narrator Oh dear, boys and girls our time is up. We must return to Flagstaff. Are you ready? Reptiles are cold-blooded. Being cold blooded means that their bodies are the same temperature as their surroundings. When they get too warm they go into water or shade to cool off. When they are too cold they hang out in the sun to warm up. How do we warm up or cool down (take off /put on clothes). [Our bodies regulate our internal temperatures automatically.] Reptiles have lungs and breathe air. Retiles breathe air just like you & me. Reptiles are covered in scales. Scales can be hard or soft, large or small and they usually lay eggs. Reptiles have lungs and breathe air. Reptiles include snakes, lizards, crocodiles, turtles, and tortoises. Dinosaurs are extinct reptiles.